St. Judoc, Hermit
(Joder, Josse, Joyce, Joost, Jost, Judganoc)

13 December

Died 668; feast of his translation is January 9. Son of the Breton king
Juthael and younger brother of
King Saint Judicael (f.d. December 17),
Saint Judoc hesitated in his religious vocation. He renounced his
position and wealth, and was ordained to the
priesthood about 636 at Ponthieu; nevertheless, when his brother
abdicated, Judoc ruled Brittany for some months. After a pilgrimage
to Rome, he left Brittany and became a hermit at Runiacum near the mouth
of the Canche (later Villiers-Saint-Josse, near Saint-Josse-sur-Mer and
Etaples), where he died. He was entombed above ground and his body
remained incorrupt. It is said that his hair, beard, and nails continued
to grow and that his successors in the hermitage had to cut them
occasionally (a similar story is related of
Saint Cuthbert (f.d. March 20)).
Charlemagne gave Judoc's hermitage at Saint-Josse-sur-Mer to
Blessed Alcuin (f.d. May 19)
to use as a hospice for cross-Channel travellers. A
New Minster tradition at Winchester relates that Judoc's relics were
brought to Hyde Abbey about 901 on January 9 by some refugees from
Saint-Josse.
Saint Grimbald (f.d. July 8)
enshrined them in the new
church. It is interesting to note the Chaucer's "Wife of Bath" swears by
'God and by Seint Joce' and that the popularity of the saint in
England is evidenced by the frequency of the Christian name 'Joyce' for
both men and women.

Saint Judoc is portrayed as a pilgrim with cockle-shells, staff and wallet,
with the crown he renounced at his feet. At times a fountain may be
springing under his staff, or he is shown with a book, staff, crown and
sceptre near him and birds and fish around him
(Roeder). There is a
representation of Saint Judoc on the mausoleum of Maximilian at
Innsbruck, Austria
(Farmer).
Judoc is venerated in Brittany, Franconia,
Saint Josse-sur-Mer, Villiers- Saint-Josse, and Winchester. He is
invoked against harvest fire, fever, and storms (Roeder).
(Roeder).